June 02, 2008

Guess what? I was one of the winners on the May Project Parade contest on the Verve Visual Blog. I'm so excited. Here's my card that I entered in the contest. What a great way to start off a Monday morning.

After I checked out the Verve blog, I hopped over to Julee's blog to check out her Mojo Monday sketch challenge.

What a great sketch. Any time I see a large circle in a sketch, I always think of a Dahlia flower. So that's what I made.

The directions for the dahlia fold can be found here. I used my 1 3/8" Circle Punch for the dahlia petals. It's a little time consuming folding all of the petals, but I think it makes such gorgeous flowers. It's definitely worth the time.

I used my new Fresh Cuts stamp set on the card.

For the medallion, I stamped the leaf print stamp on Groovy Guava cardstock with Groovy Guava ink. Then I stamped the 5 petal flower on top of it with Ruby Red ink. I stamped another 5 petal flower with Ruby Red ink, cut it out, added a black brad to the center, and adhered it on top of the other flower with a dimensional. The Ruby Red scalloped circle seemed to get lost on my card, so I added a Basic Black scalloped circle behind it. I offset the two scalloped circles so the Black scallops showed between each of the Ruby Red scallops.

The Fresh Cuts stamp set is a sneak peek from the upcoming Fall and Winter catalog and it's one of the specials for the month of June. You can earn this set free (plus a set of 15 Fresh Cut note cards and envelopes) for hosting a $400 workshop during the month of June. You can also purchase this stamp set and get the set of 15 Fresh Cut note cards and envelopes for only $5 more. Contact me to order yours today.

April 25, 2008

I'm so happy it's Friday. After this crazy week I definitely need some time to unwind and relax. I sat down to stamp this morning and had no idea where to start. So I thought I'd stick with my usual Friday routine and do the Mojo Monday sketch by Julee!

I saw this sketch on Monday and have been mulling it over in my mind. What should I put in that large circle panel? Then it hit me--a dahlia flower!

Now that I have my card posted and I'm looking at it right below Julee's sketch, I just noticed that I put my little side panel pieces in the wrong position!!! Oops! There's no way to move them now. It's Friday, it's been a long week...what more can I say?

For the directions on the dahlia flower, click here. I think I'm addicted to making them. I used the 1 3/8" Circle Punch for the petals on the flower. I love this Afternoon Tea designer series paper. It's only available for purchase through the end of May and then I'm sure it will be gone for good because Groovy Guava will be retiring soon too. I need to stockpile the retiring In Colors.

I tried to stick to Julee's sketch and add brads where she had them marked on the sketch. I didn't think it would look right to poke a brad down through the middle of the ribbon, so I gathered the ribbon and used the brad to hold it in place. Thanks Julee for another great sketch!

I've been working on my stamp room and gathering more stuff that I need to sell or give away. I appreciate all of you who took card samples off my hands. I sent out over 1000 cards. The next thing I need to move out of here is inspiration sheets. If you're interested in a set, check back tomorrow for the details. I hope you have a great weekend! ~Dannie

March 20, 2008

I'm happy to say that my computer is back up and running. I can now upload photos so I can post more stuff on my blog. Yeah! It will take me forever to fill up this new hard drive.

Now that I have my computer again, I had to wander over to SplitCoast and see what I missed out on. This week's tutorial is the Dahlia fold! I love making Dahlias (click here to see a dahlia origami box that I made and here to see my dahlia card). When I saw this week's sketch challenge, I decided to combine it with the dahlia fold.

I love the way this turned out. The River Rock cardstock (under the dahlia) was wheeled with my Rough Texture jumbo wheel in River Rock ink. I don't have a River Rock jumbo ink cartridge so I just rolled my wheel on the stamp pad to ink it. I wheeled the cardstock in one direction and then rotated it 90 degrees and wheeled it again. I also sponged River Rock ink around edges of the cardstock.

If you look closely you'll see that I paper pierced the River Rock cardstock in all four corners around the dahlia. I also pierced along the length of the Ruby Red cardstock.

Now I know you're wondering what happened to my video tutorial. It's coming, I just don't know when. My husband has been swamped with work and with fixing my computer (thank you!). Tonight is our son's birthday party so I know he won't have time to work on it today. I think in the future I'll just surprise you with new tutorials. That way I don't have to keep apologizing that it's still not ready!

November 20, 2007

Today I wanted to try another project from the "Holiday Project Showcase" on SplitCoast. I needed a box to put a gift in, so I made one of the Origami boxes (click here for the tutorial).

I started with a 12" x 12" piece of Brocade Background Designer Series Paper for the top of my box. For the bottom of my box I used an 11 1/2" square piece of Old Olive card stock. I wanted to do something unique on the top of the box, so I used the "Dahlia Fold" to make a flower.

Using another piece of Brocade Background DSP, I punched out 8 circles (using my 1 3/8" circle punch) and folded them like this. Since my paper is double-sided, I folded four of them with the first pattern on top and the other four with the second pattern on top. I cut out a 2 7/8" circle of Old Olive card stock with my Coluzzle and glued all my Dahlia petals to it. I finished off the center with a Rhinestone Brad. I love the way it turned out.

November 09, 2007

I am constantly amazed at the talent of other stampers. I see so many great techniques, layouts, and designs that I want to try someday. Well, I decided that "someday" was today.

The inspiration for this card came from several different places. First, the layout came from this card by Laurie. I have never made a square card before and wanted to give it a try. My card base is 5 1/4" so it will fit in Stampin' Up!'s medium square envelopes. With her great layout, this card came together quickly.

I have also seen some wonderful cards using the Dahlia fold. I used my coluzzle to cut out a 2 7/8" black circle to layer the flower petals on. The fold was really easy to do and it made a beautiful flower.

I had one more technique that I wanted to try and work into this card. At my last downline group meeting, I was the lucky recipient of one of these swap cards from Mary. The photo does not do the card justice. The texture from the linen stamp is gorgeous and it's so difficult to capture in a photo. Of course I had to try that too.

I took the Purely Pomegranate layer that the flower is on and sponged the edges with Purely Pomegranate ink. Then I stamped it with the Linen stamp in versamark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I think it all came together nicely and I was able to cross a few things off my "to-do" list.

As an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator, the content of this blog is my sole responsibility. The use of and content of the classes, services, or products offered on this blog are not endorsed by Stampin' Up!